Dark
by Araius
Summary: William begins to harbor feelings for the new exchange student who seems to be hiding something odd. Meanwhile, his younger cousin Jace deals with a certain...full moon problem. AU Pairings: Jem/Will and Jace/?
1. DrPepper

**I do not own any of Cassandra Clare's Characters. Reviews are cool. Enjoy~**

* * *

"Today, lovely Miss Charlotte yelled at me for being late." William lay sprawled across his living room couch, his feet in Tessa's lap.

"And you most likely deserved it. You're always late to maths, I'm guessing?" His house keeper swept under the table as she spoke, sharp eyes to the floor.

"I'm offended that you would even assume that, Sophie. You know what they say: 'Assuming makes an ass out of-'"

"Will!" Tessa cut him off, pinching the skin near his ankle.

"Ow, Tessa that hurt." Will mock sobbed, shifting until he was closer to Tessa, his feet now on the ground. He leaned in to kiss her but Tessa only sighed and pushed him back by his shoulders. She stood, walking to the front door.

"Will, I'll see you at school tomorrow. I am in no mood to deal with this right now."

William sat in the same spot for the remaining two minutes it took his house keeper to sweep the rest of the wood flooring. He stood only once to collect a quarter she swept out from under the couch.

"Sophie, tell me, did we just have a fight?"

"You and me? Certainly."

"No, no-me and Tessa."

Sophie rolled her eyes and, with a firm hold on her broom, exited the space. She muttered something about stupidity as she went.

"Just as helpful as usual.." Will muttered under his breath.

He stood and stretched like a cat, heading to the kitchen. Opening the fridge for the hundredth time that day, he frowned.

No more cans of DrPepper.

"Looking for something?"

"GAH!" The brunette slammed the door in surprise. Where the fridge door had previously blocked his vision, stood Jace. He was leaning against the marble counter top, wearing a torn up Nirvana tee and a smirk. In his hand was a half-empty can of DrPepper.

Will's vision traveled to the can. His ocean eyes narrowed and he let out a threatening growl.

"You little shit!"

"I don't see your name on it."

Will stood still, his face going blank as if he was pondering this before he let out a loud scream.

"MARYSE!"

"Maryse isn't here." The blonde looked down at the can and made a face. "And this shit is gross."

He put it on the counter and left.

Will picked it up and observed it. There were two possible explanations for Jace's sudden dislike of the pop.

The first being that Jace simply drank half of it to irritate William and subject him to backwash. The second being that Jace put something in the pop.

He quickly poured the sugary mixture down the drain.

Jace would pay.

The brunette walked swiftly down the hall, heading towards Jace's room. He quietly opened the door and snuck in, listening to Jace talk through the mic connected to his PS3 game system.

"Yeah man. No-to the right! God dammit, Simon you are so bad at this. You could have told me how much you sucked before we got to level 28."

Will looked around. Same clean room. Odd that Jace was so organized when it came to his space, but his school bag was hell.

His blue eyes turned to the tv screen and he waited until a zombie was about two feet away from Jace's player before pouncing on the blonde.

"OW what the-"

The controller slid across the wood floor and Jace's headset flew the opposite direction.

"Dude, I can't revive you!" Simon's shrill voice yelled loudly through the mic as Jace clawed towards his controller.

"Will get the hell off me!"

"...last DrPepper you ungrateful little-"

They rolled around as Simon screamed and the tv screen flashed a "GAME OVER" sign. An evil laugh echoed through the speakers, signaling complete defeat.

"I'm bad? I'M BAD?!" Simon's voice mocked rudely as the blonde finally shook his older cousin off of him.

"You stupid ass! Get out of my room!"

Will grinned. Mission accomplished.

"Drink another one of my cans of DrPepper and you'll lose more than a round of Zombies."

The blonde looked about ready to deck him. He quickly exited, his grin slipping away as he made his way back to his room. Jace's door slammed shut and a mutter of apologies and curse words could be heard as the younger boy attempted to explain what had happened to Simon.

Maryse would hear about this later.

But in Will's opinion it was totally worth it.

He entered his room and slumped down on his bed, pulling his cell from his pocket.

Luckily it wasn't broken, not even a scratch. Might as well have been a Nokia, he thought as he opened a blank text message.

"Tess. Guess what I just did to my cousin."


	2. New Kid

**I do not own any of Cassandra Clare's Characters. Reviews are cool. Thank you for reading! Enjoy~**

* * *

"Only over DrPepper."

The reply Tessa sent was short and slightly rude.

William grimaced. Normally his girlfriend would have giggled at his and Jace's latest antics. He couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with her. Being one to simply cut to the chase, he text back asking if she was feeling alright. If there was anything he could do.

"William I'm sorry. We should stop."

"Stop what?"

"Dating.."

The brunette stared at his phone in shock. Just last week they had been fine and...now this?

"Alright."

His reply was straight forward. He turned off his phone and flung it onto his pillow.

Entering the kitchen, he once again opened the fridge. He half expected Jace to pop up again. But the blonde didn't show.

Lazily, he grabbed at a jug of ice water. Maybe a glass would calm his nerves.

The next couple of days were awful. He'd see Tessa at school and smile but she wouldn't smile back. In the halls, he would pass her without saying hello or offering to take her bags for her. It was odd to break a routine he'd had for months.

But worst of all, Tessa actually transferred out of their shared Science class. William wondered what he had done to make Tessa angry enough to completely avoid him.

By the time he reached his Science class, he was emotionally exhausted and the empty desk next to his didn't help to brighten his mood.

"Late again, Will. And no Tessa with you?" Magnus, the glittery senior sitting next to him whispered, a grin plastered on his face.

"Bite me!"

"Hey, why not."

"Bane! Herondale! Listen up, lads! We have a new student to introduce."  
Their teacher, a ginger man named Henry Branwell, motioned for a lanky boy to stand at the front of the class.

He did as he was told, silver eyes scanning the room curiously.

"Hello. I'm James Carstairs. Please call me Jem." His platinum blonde hair shone silver in the dull lighting as he turned to face the teacher again.

A small murmur went through the class like electricity.

"..his hair.."

"..so cute.."

William rolled his eyes. Just a shiny new toy for all the girls to fawn over.

"Welcome to Infernal High." The teacher smiled and scanned the room for an open seat. "I'd tell you to sit anywhere you like, however there is only one seat available."

He pointed to Tessa's old seat.

William looked to Magnus to gauge his reaction, but the other teenager was currently flirting with the small Lightwood kid.

With a heavy sigh, he silently vowed not to speak to the new kid. Not while he was sitting in Tessa's seat.

Jem was slow at making his way over and seemed to collapse into the chair, his breathing audible. A handkerchief emerged from his pocket and he coughed into it, eyebrows knitted together as if he was in pain. Maybe Will had imagined it, but before Jem folded the small piece of cloth and slipped it back into his pocket, he was certain it had been stained red.

"Are you okay?" The words left Will's mouth before he could register that he had already broken his vow.

Jem turned his attention to the brunette. He seemed shocked, as if no one had ever bothered to ask before. Will felt a little bad for him.

"I'm alright." The reply took too long, but Will let it go. Maybe the kid just didn't want to talk about it.

An uneasy silence hung over them as Henry fiddled with a small torch and wrote instructions for their next chapter on the whiteboard.  
After twenty minutes of Henry attempting to put out an unfortunate waist basket fire, the students were paired off and sent to stations. Will ended up with a girl named Clary who looked an awful lot like their teacher but seemed immensely less scatter brained.

Class eventually ended and the bell for lunch rang. William began to pack up (he always took longer than everyone else) when Jem approached him at his station.

"I didn't ask your name."

"William Herondale. Call me Will." His blue eyes scanned the other's face. Angles, but not too sharp. And eyes that seemed almond shaped, as if the boy was Asian somewhere down the line.

"Okay. Nice to meet you, Will."

Jem turned and walked towards the door.

Did he have someone to eat with at lunch? Would he end up with the popular brats? Will remembered Jem's coughing. He wondered how long the sick boy could take at the popular table before they cast him away.

"Hey!" He jogged to catch up to the lanky blonde.

"Oh. Yes?"

"Would you like to eat lunch with me?"


	3. Rubber Ducks

**So apparently fanfic doesn't like it when you write out DrPepper. I had to go through and fix that. I also added a bit of a twist to the story and updated the summary. Anyway, I don't own anything. Please enjoy. Again, reviews really make me happy.**

* * *

William spent a majority of lunch showing the new boy around. He learned that Jem was an exchange student and had previously lived in Shanghai. He also learned that the pale boy was often sick and (because of this) eating wasn't his favorite thing to do.

When the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch and the begining of passing, Will showed Jem to his Art class. He awkwardly said goodbye and headed to his own P.E. class, a little dizzy from the nerves caused by talking to a new person.

Not that he had been nervous.

He jogged to the gym, stopping only to quickly throw sweat pants over his jeans (he didn't have time to actually change) and put his backpack in the locker room. But his locker seemed jammed. After wasting minutes on opening it, he found it damn near stuffed to the brim with rubber ducks.

Will battled with the door a moment, "Goddamn bloodthirsty little-"

A second bell rang in the distance and Will cussed under his breath. Late again. And he knew who was responsible He walked out of the locker room and cringed at the familiar sight of his cousin.

"Late to everything." Jace smirked like the asshole he was. "And here I was hoping you might be on time. You know, not make us Herondales look so bad for once."

Will and the blonde shared a physical education class with their buff teacher Mr. Stern. He was very strict about attendance (more so than Ms. Charlotte) and Will had most definitely walked in late.

"Do you have an excuse today?" All eyes turned to Will as Mr. Stern approached the two cousins and spoke, his voice echoing off the gym walls. The class slowly closed around them, watching curiously. Mr. Stern was rarely this mad.

William mentally sent daggers at Jace, but the blonde seemed unaware, too busy flirting with that Clary girl from Science class. He whispered something in her ear and motioned towards Will. She giggled and Jace grinned, meeting eyes with his angry relative.

Gold on Azure.

Jace winked.

"William Herondale! Answer me!" Mr. Stern began to shout.

Fucking asshole.

Will rushed at Jace, decking him in the nose. The blonde was momentarily caught off guard, stepping back quickly to avoid another blow. He had one hand over his face as he cried out, "What the hell?!"

Scarlet dripped from his nose and Will mentally applauded himself for managing to draw blood.

Before he could fully appreciate his good aim, Jace came at him, fist contacting with his skull. The world momentarily spun and Will kneeled on the ground, trying to regain his footing.

Mr. Stern yanked the brunette up by his arm and pushed him toward the double doors with a bleeding, fighting Jace in tow.

"To the office! Both of you!"

Will caught a glimpse of a shocked Clary. Other classmates were already whispering and pulling out their phones to tell the world.

Sitting in the office was the worst of it.

The cousins sat side-by-side, only an office lady present to look over her horn-rimmed glasses at them every five minutes. She was young and rather pretty despite the glasses choice. William figured he could have flirted his way at least to a vending machine, but he didn't much feel like it at this point.  
Instead, he held an ice pack to his head, staring blank faced at the hall leading to the principle's office.

Jace had a box of Kleenex in his lap and was surrounded by blood soaked, crumpled tissues. He too seemed to gaze nervously at the door placed at the end of the hall.

Any minute now, they might be called in.

"Why'd you put ducks in my locker?"

"Why'd you make me lose Zombies?"

A heavy silence fell over the two.

This was going to be a long afternoon.


	4. Cell Phones

**And now shit starts to get real. Reviews are super cool.**  
**I don't own anything.**

* * *

Maryse had driven to pick them up from the office, but Jace had his own set of keys and no intention of losing them. He split before she got there.  
Needless to say, she wasn't happy.

"He is very grounded."

"I'm not?" William asked, hopeful.

"You are also grounded." She said his name with force, eyes staring straight ahead as they walked briskly through the school parking lot. "However, you'll be able to keep your phone. He won't be so lucky."

Hey, at least he wasn't Jace.

"Speaking of Jace's phone..." she mumbled.

They reached the car and Maryse unlocked it, motioning for him to get in while she leaned against the driver's side door and dialed a number into her cell.

After a couple of seconds she spoke. At first Will thought she had reached Jace, but apparently his phone was off because she left a very heated message.

"..and I hope for your sake that you are home before I get there." Maryse hung up and opened the door, slamming it shut as she sat in her seat. She blew her hair out of her face and turned the key in the ignition.

Immediately, William reached for the radio. He flipped it on and Fall Out Boy began to blare from the speakers. Naturally Will started to sing loudly.

"...Setting in a honeymoon! If I woke up next to you- Hey!" Maryse shut it off, giving Will a look that could kill. "I thought you enjoyed my singing, Auntie Maryse. I'm hurt."

"Oh shut it."

The rest of the ride was spent in silence.

Upon entering their house, William made for the fridge.

"Will, get over here."

He sighed and turned around, collapsing on the couch. If she wanted him to sit, he'd sit. Fine, whatever.

"Jace!" Maryse called.

The house was silent save for a small meow of surprise from Church. Will called him over and pet his head.

"Jonathan, I am serious!"

No answer.

She ran her hands through her messy bangs and threw her car keys on the table.

"Look, I need to fix my hair and get back to work. Call to me if your cousin pulls in the drive."

"Sure thing." He smiled deviously and she scowled.

"Computer."

"Goddammit, I knew there would be something."

"William! Don't curse like that!" She stalked out of the room, no doubt to gather up his laptop and charger.

At least he still had his phone. Jace was losing a lot more for the stupid stunt he had pulled.

Will pulled out his cell and sent a quick text message to Jace.

"Where are you?!"

He waited for almost five minutes, petting Church and flipping through a magazine he had picked up from the coffee table. He could have watched TV but that wasn't much his style.

Laying down now, he checked his phone again.

But no reply came and no Jace pulled in.

Something in William whispered that he should be worried, but he pushed it away. Jace was most likely at a park or something. Maybe that ginger Clary had skipped sixth period to be with him for a little before the grounding took affect.

Were those two even dating?

He honestly didn't care.

The thought brought Tessa back to the front of his mind and he felt a pang in his chest. It wasn't that he missed her necessarily He couldn't really put a finger on the feeling.

Maryse came back into the room, her hair in a neat bun. She gazed at the front door as she grabbed her car keys.

"Not back yet?"

Will shrugged.

"Well when he does get back, take his keys. I'm trusting you to not go anywhere, William." She shook her head as if the mere thought was crazy. "On second thought, just call me if he gets home. I'll take the keys."

"Izzy could take his keys?" He offered, feeling too tired to be on Jace-watch tonight.

"Isabelle and Jessamine are shopping tonight. She won't be here." Maryse put a delicate hand to her cheek. "I need to go. Call me when he gets home."  
She turned on her heel and exited the household.

"Auuuugh." Will rolled into a sitting position on the couch and moved Church off of his lap.

He checked his phone again. Still no messages.

Guess he would have to wait.

He grabbed a magazine.


	5. Blood

**Annnd the filler chapters have now ended.**  
**Seriously guys. I don't even know if I have readers at this point. Reviews would really help me get chapters out faster.**  
**I don't own anything but the plot.**

* * *

_Tessa stood at the edge of a riverbank, her eyes trained on the moon. Will walked towards her, the warmth of liquid familiar against his skin. He looked to his hands. It appeared as if he had dipped them into a bucket of red paint. Raising his blue eyes to Tessa's gray ones, he watched as she smiled. The smile would have been pleasant if not for Tessa's mouth having been covered in blood.  
_  
William's phone rang loudly, waking him from his dream.

He shook his bangs out of his face and sat up, clicking the answer button as soon as he recognized the number to be Jace's.

Will could hear anxious murmurs in the kitchen. The front windows shown onto a dark, wet street. One look at the clock above the tv told him that Maryse was off of work and the girls must have been done shopping for hours.

Midnight and Jace still wasn't home?

"Where the hell are you?"

"William?" The voice on the other end of the phone was not Jace's, however it was familiar.

"Oh wonderful, did Jace leave his phone at a party or-"

"Its Jem."

A shocked silence hung over the phone call.

"Why do you have my cousins phone?"

A sound like a strangled sob came over the receiver and Will almost thought he had imagined it.

"Look I..what's your address? Your cousin, he's with me. I need to take him home."

William wanted to ask why exactly Jace was out with the new boy from school until 12 AM on a school night.

But instead he gave Jem the address.

"Thank you."

With a click, Will was left to listen to a dial tone.

He stood and stretched, turning towards the sound of his aunt's voice.

His entire family stood in the kitchen, all in random states of undress. Maryse stood in her dressing robe and appeared to be arguing with Isabelle, whose hand was gripping Max's as she spoke. Max wore over-sized pajamas and looked scared. Next to him stood a very pale Alec.

"Jace is fine. He's most likely at a friends."

"I called Simon, Clary and Jordan! I even called Gabriel! No one has heard from him, mom!"

Maryse shook her head, refusing to believe that something could happen to her child.

"Something must be wrong! He's never out this late! And look, its raining! He doesn't drive in the rain!" Isabelle was almost screaming at this point.

"Perhaps he's with Jessamine?" Will tried not to snort. His sister was not very fond of Jace.

Izzy made an exasperated noise.

"They hate each other! And besides, I was with her all day!"

Will cleared his throat.

Every pair of blue eyes turned to him, as if seeing him for the first time. He casually held up his phone.

"Thank you for ceasing your arguing long enough for me to tell you I got a call."

Alec's complexion seemed to brighten and Izzy bit her lip. Maryse sighed and picked up Max, ready to walk him back to bed.

"Jem Carstairs called."

She stopped dead in her tracks as a look of confusion flickered over the group.

Alec's eyes narrowed, "Who the hell is Jem Carstairs?"

"The new kid in school. He's not so bad. But for some reason he has Jace's phone. And apparently Jace can't drive. Most likely drunk. Jem's bringing him home."

As if on Que, there was a knock at the door.

"And that's him."

Will spun on his heel, his family following him to the sitting room. Maryse put Max on the couch and warned Alec to watch him. She opened the door.

"Jonathan what were you thinking..." The question died on her lips and she took a step back, almost tripping over the rug. Her hands flew to her mouth and she stiffed a scream.

Alec stood abruptly and Isabelle grabbed for Max out of instinct.

In the doorway stood Jem. His white hair was drenched in rain water. In his arms was Jace, bloody and unconscious.

Jem leaned against the doorway. He breathed heavily.

"Please..come get him. Horrible...car crash, really." There was an audible gasp as he spoke. Isabelle sobbed as the situation hit the family with full force.

Jace and Jem had been in a car crash? Why hadn't Jem called the cops?

William ran to the doorway and scooped his cousin up in his arms. He brought him down on the living room floor and motioned for Jem to come in.

The platinum blonde did as he was asked, shutting the door behind himself. He stood awkwardly as Will checked Jace for any gashes or cuts.

He could find none.

"The blood..." Jem tried to steady his breathing. "..it isn't...his."

Jem was right, Jace only appeared to have a knot on his head where something had made contact. Something that was potentially extremely heavy.

The Carstair suddenly doubled over in pain. He pulled a piece of soaked material from his pocket and began to cough violently. Maryse reached out to him, but he caught his breathe and tried to stand straight.

"Not his...its my blood."

He managed to get the sentence out before he fainted.


End file.
